XephonBlack
by ArtistBlue
Summary: Taj is an ordinary kid, who loves to daydream, and is a piano genius. But one day, his life changes as a beautiful ballad is played in his mind, his heart, his soul. On that day, XephonBlack became Taj's instrument. Takes place after the original series.
1. Chapter 1: My Tuned Soul

XephonBlack Ballad 1: My Tuned Soul

"Here you are, daylight star. Made out of miracles. Perfection on your own, you alone. Oh so incredible, each atom sings to me, set me free, from chains of the physical. Oh free m…" I muttered in my sleep.

"Shut up!" Trevor, my friend, said and woke me up.

"Damn, again?" I said, sitting up.

"Yea, Choirboy, now shut up and look at that!" Trevor said while turning my head to the opposite window. Dark clouds were starting to gather, even though it was supposed to be a 100 clear day.

"Aw great! There goes our great time at the beach!" I complained. After I said that, I turned towards my window. I guess I should say who I am, where I am, and what's going on. My name is Blue, and I'm an African American freshman at the prestigious Midnight High School, with almost no hair, a goatee, and blue eyes. My class was on a field trip to the beach for a little research and fun.

This was our last field trip of the year, since school was going to end in two days. The sing I was singing was "Garden of Everything" by Maaya Sakamoto featuring Steve Conte. Yea, you guessed it, I was dreaming about RahXephon. Even though the dream had ended, I still feel like something is going to happen. Well, the feeling got worse as our bus ride to the beach was reaching the mid way point on the highway. That's when everything went wrong, or maybe, in my eyes, everything went right.

Being the piano genius and artist, I always felt that my soul was in tune with music. Now, even though my skills were admired, they didn't help me get a girlfriend. It didn't help that I wasn't athletic, but not fat; smart, but not a nerd; and unpopular, but not an outcast. Plus, I was constantly singing in my sleep and daydreaming.

As I started to relax and daydream, something weird started to happen. I started to hear jumbled notes in my mind, in my ears, in my heart, and in my soul. As my deep blue pupils shrank, the pulse of the jumbled notes was smoothing out and becoming louder. My heart was beating at an incredible rate, and my breath had become shallow. My head was pulsing with pain. Trevor, who was sitting next to me, noticed my condition.

"Yo Blue, are you ok? He asked, concerned. My shrunken pupils flew to his face. He looked freaked out and scared once he saw my eyes. Just then, the dark clouds swirled into a cyclone, and then the eye of the storm opened up. I felt time stop as a giant black egg with strange gold embroidery from the eye of the storm. The jumbled notes I heard became a beautiful ballad as the egg slowly fell from the sky to the highway in front of my bus. As it touched the warm cement of the highway, I heard a sentence in my mind.

"Your soul has been tuned," the mysterious voice said.

"Aaaagh!" the bus driver screamed as he tried to swerve and not hit the gigantic egg head on. The bus flipped over a few times, and my classmates screamed in terror and surprise, but only one thought went through my head: I have to get to that egg!

I crawled over seats once the bus stopped rolling, the door faced up. I climbed out of the bus, and ran toward the egg, my head surprisingly clear. Once I got to the egg, I touched it.

"XephonBlack, you are my instrument, and we will put on a concert to suffuse the world with sound," I whispered while lightly dragging my fingers on the surface of the egg.

crack My eyes opened wide. craaack I looked up in surprise. CRUNCH I saw the torso, head, and beautiful black wings of the being of my dreams, XephonBlack.

Ballad 1: End


	2. Chapter 2: War's Beat

XephonBlack Ballad 2: War's Beat

I could not believe it. God and man's dark angel had finally hatched, thanks to yours truly. The XephonBlack stood, devil-like wings still closed over its face, still unmoving. That ballad that plays in my head, my heart, and my soul returned. It now sounded finely tuned, and newborn. Its sound could lift my soul out of my body.

However, as I was enjoying that beautiful, powerful ballad, a heart wrenching discord struck through the ballad, making my body numb. A twisted blue portal appeared, and man's disaster entered on the bridge. A Dolem, standard blue, with empty triangle wings, lightly fell to the bridge, as if floating. A distinct item flashed in my shocked azure eyes. This dolem had a halo, a halo of death that could fire a beam 360 degrees.

"Wait… my friends and classmates are still on this bridge!" I realized while turning around. "Xephon! Hear me and help me do something right!"

It must have heard me, because its wings opened up, and its face looked down at me I was surprised to find hemisphere golden eyes, a pale face, and a look of understanding from the dark angel. The Xephon bend down and extended its shiny ebony arm towards me. I climbed into its palm, a little anxious about what was coming. Xephon brought its hand to its chest, where I guessed the cockpit was. A bright orb appeared, and I do not ever remember stepping in.

"Whaa! Is this... the cockpit?" I asked, as I entered a small circular room, a pool of dark blue water. Nevertheless, that was not what caught my eye. My azure eyes lit up in wonder. In the middle of the room stood an angel, its lower half-submerged, and its torso above water. Its devil wings flowed from its back, and formed a seat, while the back of the head formed a monitor. The control console also had two hand ports to control the Xephon.

Without thinking, I ran over the water, which felt solid under my feet, and jumped into the pilot seat. As I sat, the front of the cockpit itself lit up, showing what XephonBlack saw. I was almost afraid to touch the controls, but as I looked at the situation outside, my determination returned. I slid my hands into the hand ports, which fit like gloves, and pushed on one of the pedals under my feet. Outside, Xephon's wings spread from its head, and it opened its mouth.

"Haaaaaaaaaa."

It was the pained alto voice that erupted from Xephon's mouth as it shot across the bridge, aiming for the Dolem.

"Get away from my friends!" I yelled as I pushed the Dolem away from the bus I was on, only minutes ago. I grabbed hold of the Dolem, and Xephon opened its mouth, and a yellow beam erupted throught the Dolem, blowing off its head and part of its chest, leaving a flesh crater. Then the Dolem had a weird reaction. It started to bubble quickly.

"Oh Shi- !" was all I could get out before the Dolem exploded, gushing a fountain of blue liquid all over. A screech equivalent to a cat's last yell before death came from the remains of my first ever Dolem.

"What is this stuff?" I asked silently, thinking about the liquid that covered the Xephon's hands. "Wait… It's… It's…"

"Blood. Dolem blood. Blue blood. Mu blood." I heard from a loudspeaker at the end of the bridge. I heard the monotone sound of heavy treads on concrete. The military had arrived. But that wasn't what bothered me. What did bother me was the nostalgic voice from the loudspeaker, and the fact that blood covered Xephon's hands, my hands.


	3. Chapter 3: Memories

XephonBlack Ballad 3: Memories

I just sat there, shocked at what the strangely nostalgic and familiar voice said to me.

"Blood?...Does that make me a killer?" I asked myself,

"Yes, I guess it does, but it also makes you a protector," said the familiar female voice. "Now please step out of the O-part, Fallen Olin."

I don't know who this "Fallen Olin" is, but I guess she meant me, so I got out of the control console, and stepped to the front of the cockpit. Suddenly, I found myself floating…, yes floating, down from the Xephon in a yellow warm light. The military tanks had moved in perfect monotone formation towards the Xephon.

I looked around the bridge from where I landed, and was shocked and disgusted. The blue blood covered half the bridge like a new wet coat of paint. It was even slowly bubbling in some places. Also, the bus was still on its side, but people were being helped out of it by the military. The windows were smashed, and my classmates look worse for the wear. Thank god they were so shocked, that they did not notice that I was gone.

"Aargh!" I shouted. My head was pounding like drums with the sound of the ballad playing loudly and proudly, which made me think that the Xephon enjoyed fighting. I didn't have long to be disgusted, being the pacifist I am, because a troop of soldiers we walking my way.

"God, the monotonicity is killing me inside," I mumbled while rolling my eyes. A girl dressed in camo pants, standard issue boots, a brown, tight t-shirt, and a camo hat led the way. Although the clothes were standard issure, they accentuated her curves. She had tan skin, bright brown eyes, and mid-back length black hair, tied together in a ponytail. She had a cute face, which made her look out of place with the group of soldiers.

"At ease, men." She commanded to the group. She had an air of bossyness, and as soon as she raised her hand, the troops stopped. "Good afternoon, Fallen Olin."

"Yea, yea. What's with the 'Fallen…Olin' thing?" I asked, my spite for the military getting to me. I noticed that the girl looked me over. I was about 5'8", dark skin, braids tied back, and anger-filled ebony eyes. I was wearing my swimming trunks, and windbreaker that covered my face from site, but since it was unzipped, it showed my lean body, and some tennis shoes. I did not know why, but this girl's voice and attitude seem familiar, and the mystery was getting to me.

But just as I became more confused about my situation, one of the deities or gods decided to give me a hint. A song that has recurred to me in many dreams lately, and had deep meaning from my past started playing in my mind. The instrumental of "Garden of Everything" was playing as the usual ballad died down.

"I called you Fallen Olin because that is the pilot of that machine behind you, the O-part."

"What the hell is and O-part? Don't tell me you're talking about Xephon."

"Yes, the Mu Xephon or whatever you want to call it," The girl said with a sigh and an annoyed expression. To tell the truth, I was 5 seconds from slapping her.

"Err, wrong. It's called XephonBlack," A tall, lanky blond man in a scientist's cloak walk towards us from the military's camp. He walk towards the girl and put his hand on her shoulder and sighed. "Vasquez, please stop acting all high and mighty and bring the boy over to the camp so we can examine him." As soon as the girl's (yes I don't have any respect, so I call her a girl) name was said by the tired looking doctor, "Garden" started playing louder giving me the biggest headache ever, and yes, I started humming it. Ugh, now I've lost it.

Then I heard it cut through the instrumental like a hot knife through butter. A simple chuckle from the latino girl brought back memories of times that I played with a girl with that same chuckle. I would hear it every time I humiliated myself in front of her. I guess she still had it. That single chuckle brought back so many memories that, coupled with the song playing in my head made it feel like my had was splitting in half. But I knew her, I knew Maria Vasquez, and I wasn't going to forget her again.

"M..M..Maria?" I asked with a pained voice, stopping the her chuckle instantly.

"Hmm, how do you know my name?" She asked, curiosity in her voice. I took off my hood and made her look me in the eye, a wide cheesy grin we used to share plastered on my face.

"Remember me, V?" I asked as her eyes shot open in shock and recognition.

"My Tajjy?...Tajjy!!!," Maria exclaimed as she jumped up and hugged me.

"Yea, it's me, Tajin. It's good to see you V," I said softly. Her small frame felt so good against me, so warm, but as I was enjoying the moment, that stupid doctor had to ruin the moment.

"VaaaasQUEZ!! Bring him over, NOW!," the scientist yelled.

"Ooooh, I'm gonna kill that Shawn!," V muttered so only I could hear her.

"Please, don't mind if I join you, V," I muttered with a smirk. Maria just hit me playfully and led me towards the camp, and away from the bus. I looked back, and the first person I saw was her. She was helping our classmates, but saw me immediately. She gave me a nod, and that told me I was making the right move and that we would see each other again.

"Em…," I whispered. Maria, seeming to notice where I was looking, whispered "You know there's a small chance of you ever seeing them again Taj. Are you ready to leave them behind?" All I did was look at my classmates, then to Maria, and smiled.

"Yea, my life is over back there. Let's go." I muttered to her. As I said that, it started to rain, getting progressively harder by the second. As the rain hit the hot, blood covered highway, steam rose, and as we walked towards the camp, we disappeared behind it. I really hope Maria had a shirt or towel to give me.


End file.
